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The Royal Visit by HRH The Prince of Wales on Monday 24th November 2003
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Important Event... The
Rector and Churchwardens first heard about the proposed visit by H R H The Prince of Wales
in early October but for security reasons that knowledge had to remain highly confidential
until the week before the actual visit.
It was our wish to include as
many people as possible who give their time and efforts for the church [ Restoration
Committee, Tearooms Committee, Organists, Stewards, the organisers of the Concerts,
Flowers, Website and all those other unsung but much appreciated volunteers ] but
could only tell them there was "an important event" coming up and to
try and keep Monday 24th November free. |
The Planning... The Prince of Wales was to fly in to the English
Heritage Visitor Centre and walk across to Witley Court where he was to perform the
Official Opening Ceremony for the refurbished fountain. He would then continue round to
the Church and then on to Ludlow to open a new stand at the racecourse.
It was necessary to meet with a member of
the Lord Lieutenants Office, the Prince's Equerry and the Police to discuss the timetable
and other arrangements and plan every detail of what promised to be a brief but eventful
visit to our Parish Church. Everyone involved had to be identified, names and
addresses checked, and those being formally introduced to the Prince positioned around the
church and duties allocated. Official Invitations were sent out with detailed
instructions on how to get over a hundred people down to the church without their
cars and without giving the security people a headache!
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| On the
Day... On the day everyone
assembled at the Village Hall in Great Witley and were shuttled to the church by coach. It
was as good an autumn morning as we had prayed for, with bright warm sunshine and a
wonderful atmosphere of anticipation. The Police and Royal Protection squad maintained an
extremely efficient but discrete presence.
As HRH made his way from Witley Court most
of our invited guests lined the path and the Prince stopped and chatted to many of them as
he approached the church. He was relaxed and in fine humour and had everyone smiling and
laughing. As he entered the church the organist struck up with 'God Bless the Prince of
Wales' which was a heartfelt sentiment shared by all of us.
The Prince spent much longer than
programmed going around the interior, chatting to people and asking questions about its
history and restoration until his minders at last managed to usher him outside for his
onward journey. A bit more friendly banter and he was gone. |
After a quick cup of coffee provided by the Church Tearooms we all happily coached back to
the Village Hall Car Park and departed homeward feeling that something rather special had
taken place in the village on this beautiful bright November day.
Our thanks to the Prince of Wales for his
visit and to all those who helped to make this a memorable day for our church and our
village. |
Charles Naysmith-Shaw
The silver comes out
for the day...
We had a wonderful time, and the weather couldn't have been better,
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We had the church silver, which is almost priceless, dating from the early 1700s, on
display for the occasion. It was
beautiful, and Prince Charles was very taken with it.
What an awful pity it can't be on display
more often....at least we had plenty of security on Monday! |
Valerie Powick
| Photographs
of the Royal Visit |
Professional photographer Angela Lloyd-James of Worcester has 197 images from the visit on
her website until 14th December 2003.
From there, you can, if you so wish, view and order the photo's online Her website is www.aljphotos.com.
Click on 'order online' and then look for the event
Royal Visit and click on it.
Enter the password witley, and the images will appear.
You can order on-line, or phone her if you prefer. |
Angela Lloyd-James
57 The Tything
Worcestershire, Worcester WR1 1JT
(01144) 1905-22956
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Great Witley Church 
